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City of Peterborough

Shown within England
Geography
Status	Unitary, City (1541)
Ceremonial county	Cambridgeshire
Historic county	Northamptonshire
Region	East of England
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Area Total	Ranked 104th 343.38 km²
Admin HQ	Town Hall, Bridge Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE1 1QT
ISO 3166-2	GB-PTE
ONS code	00JA
OS grid reference	TL185998
Coordinates	52°35'N 0°15'W
NUTS 3	UKH11
Demographics
Population Total (2022) Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity (2001 census)	89.7% White 7.0% South Asian 1.2% Afro-Caribbean 0.3% Chinese 0.3% other 1.5% mixed
Politics
Peterborough City Council
Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Control

Peterborough /ˡpiːtəˌbʌɹə/ is a cathedral city and unitary authority in the East of England, with an estimated population of 161,000 as of 2006. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire.

Peterborough Town Hall is 73.7 miles (118.6 km) north from the centre of London at Charing Cross. The city is situated on the River Nene, which flows into the North Sea approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the north-east. The local topography is notoriously flat and low-lying, and in some places lies below sea-level. The area known as the Fens falls to the east of Peterborough. The City of Peterborough includes the outlying settlement at RAF Wittering, and as a unitary authority borders Northamptonshire and Rutland to the west, Lincolnshire to the north, and Cambridgeshire to the south and east.

The history of human settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, as can be seen at the Flag Fen archaeological site to the east of the current city centre. This site also shows evidence of Roman occupation. The Saxon period saw the establishment of an abbey, which later became Peterborough Cathedral. The population grew rapidly following the arrival of the railways in the nineteenth century, and Peterborough became an industrial centre, particularly noted for its brick manufacture. Following the Second World War growth was limited until designation as a New Town in the 1960s. The population is once again undergoing rapid expansion. The city council's master plan running to 2012 draws focus on the £1 billion regeneration of the city centre and immediately surrounding areas. In common with much of the UK, industrial employment has fallen, with newer jobs tending to be in financial services and distribution.

History

Early history

Remains of Bronze Age settlement can be seen at the Flag Fen archaeological site to the east of the current city centre. The Romans established the fortified garrison town of Durobrivae on Ermine Street to the west of the city around AD 43. This was first mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary of the late second century.

Peterborough (Gildenburgh, Burgus sancti Petri) is shown by its original name Medeshampstede to have been a Saxon village before AD 655 when Saxulf, a monk, founded the monastery on land granted to him for that purpose by Peada, King of Mercia. The Peterborough Chronicle, or later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, was composed here by monks. Its name was altered to Burgh between AD 992 and 1005 after Abbot Kenulf had built a defensive wall around the minster; but the town does not appear to have been a borough until the twelfth century. The burgesses received their first charter from "Abbot Robert" — probably Robert of Sutton (1262 - 1273).

When civil war broke out, Peterborough was divided between supporters of King Charles I (known as Cavaliers) and supporters of the Long Parliament, (known as Roundheads). The city lay on the border of the Eastern Association of counties which sided with Parliament, and the war reached Peterborough in 1643 when soldiers arrived in the city to attack Royalist strongholds at Stamford and Crowland. The Royalist forces were defeated within a few weeks and they retired to Burghley House, where they were captured and sent to Cambridge. While the Parliamentary soldiers were in Peterborough however, they ransacked the cathedral, destroying the lady chapel, chapter house, cloister, high altar and choir stalls, as well as mediæval decoration and records.

Historically the dean and chapter, who succeeded the abbot as lords of the manor, appointed a high bailiff, and the constables and other borough officers were elected at their court leet; but the municipal borough was incorporated in 1874 under the government of a mayor, six aldermen and 18 councillors. Among the privileges claimed by the abbot as early as the thirteenth century was that of having a prison for felons taken in the Soke. In 1576 Bishop Scamble sold the lordship of the hundred of Nassaburgh, which is coextensive with the Soke, to Queen Elizabeth I, who gave it to Lord Burghley, and from that time until the nineteenth century he and his descendants, the Marquesses of Exeter, had a separate gaol for prisoners arrested in the Soke.

The abbot formerly held four fairs, of which two, St. Peter's Fair, granted in 1189 and later held on the second Tuesday and Wednesday in July, and the Brigge Fair, granted in 1439 and later held on the first Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in October, were purchased by the corporation from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1876. The Bridge Fair, as it is now known, granted to the abbey by King Henry VI, still survives. Prayers for the opening of the fair were said at the morning service in the cathedral, followed by a civic proclamation and a sausage lunch at the Town Hall. It is traditional for the Mayor to lead a procession from the Town Hall to the fair where the proclamation is read, asking all persons to "behave soberly and civilly, and to pay their just dues and demands."

Modern history

During the 1840s, railway lines began to open locally, but it was the Great Northern Railway's main line from London to York, which opened in 1850, that transformed Peterborough from a market town to an industrial centre. Lord Exeter had opposed the railway passing through Stamford, so Peterborough, situated between two main terminals at London and Doncaster, increasingly developed as a regional railway hub.

The railway, coupled with vast local clay deposits, enabled large scale brick making and distribution to take place. The area was the UK's leading producer of bricks for much of the twentieth century. Brick making had been a small seasonal craft since the early nineteenth century, but during the 1890s successful experiments at Fletton using the harder clays from a lower level had created a much more efficient process. Perkins Engines was established in Peterborough in 1932 by Frank Perkins, creator of the Perkins Diesel Engine. Thirty years later it employed more than a tenth of the population of Peterborough, mainly at Eastfield. Baker Perkins had relocated from London to Westwood, now the site of HMP Peterborough, in 1903, followed by Peter Brotherhood to Walton in 1906; both manufacturers of industrial machinery they too became major employers in the city. British Sugar remains headquartered in Woodston, although the sugar beet factory, which opened there in 1926, was closed in 1991.

Designated a New Town in 1967, Peterborough Development Corporation was formed in partnership with the city and county councils to house London's overspill population in new townships sited around the existing urban area. There were to be four townships; at Bretton, Orton, Paston/Werrington and Castor. The last of these was never built, but a fourth township, called Hampton, is now taking shape south of the city. It was decided that the city should have a major indoor shopping centre at its heart. Planning permission was received in the late summer of 1976 and Queensgate, which contains over 90 stores and includes parking for 2,300 cars, was opened by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1982. A new network of high-speed roads, known as parkways, was also constructed around the city at this time.

In the period between 1971 and 1991 Peterborough's population grew by 45.4%. New service-sector companies like Thomas Cook and Pearl Assurance were also attracted to the city, ending the dominance of the manufacturing industry as employers. In 2005 an Urban Regeneration Company, named Opportunity Peterborough, was set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to oversee Peterborough's future development. From 2006 to 2012 a £1 billion re-development of the city centre and surrounding areas will take place.

Administration

Politics

The city formed a parliamentary borough returning two members from 1541, with the rest of the Soke being part of Northamptonshire parliamentary county. The Great Reform Act did not affect the borough, while the rural portion of the Soke was included in the northern division of Northamptonshire. In 1885 the borough's representation was reduced to one member, and in 1918 the boundaries were adjusted to include the whole Soke. The serving member for Peterborough is the Conservative, Stewart Jackson MP, who defeated Labour's Helen Clark in the 2005 general election.

In 1997 the North West Cambridgeshire constituency was formed, incorporating parts of the city and neighbouring Huntingdonshire. The serving member is the Conservative, Shailesh Vara MP, who succeeded the (then) Rt Hon Dr. Sir Brian Mawhinney in 2005. Mawhinney, who had previously served as Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 1979, was created Baron Mawhinney of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in 2005.

Peterborough is included in the East of England constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Local Government

From 1889 the ancient Soke of Peterborough formed an administrative county in its own right with boundaries similar, although not identical, to the current unitary authority. The area however remained nominally part of Northamptonshire until 1965, when the Soke of Peterborough was merged with Huntingdonshire to form the county of Huntingdon and Peterborough.

In 1974 Huntingdon and Peterborough was abolished and the current district was created by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Peterborough, Peterborough Rural District and Barnack Rural District with Thorney Rural District, Old Fletton Urban District and part of the Norman Cross Rural District, which had existed since 1894. This became part of the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire.

In 1998 the city was given independence from Cambridgeshire county council as a unitary authority, but it continues to form part of that county for ceremonial purposes. The leader and cabinet model of decision-making, first adopted by the city council in 2001, is similar to national government.

Policing in the city remains the responsibility of Cambridgeshire Constabulary; and firefighting, the responsibility of Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service. Nowadays the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, one of few of its kind, effectively functions as a retained fire station.

Health Service

Peterborough Primary Care Trust guides primary care services (GPs, dentists, opticians and pharmacists) in the city, directly provides adult social care and services in the community such as health visiting and physiotherapy and also funds hospital care and other specialist treatments. Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the country's top performing NHS acute trusts. In 2004 it became one of the first ten NHS foundation trusts in England.

A £300 million health investment plan will see the transfer of the city's two hospitals to a single site by building a modern, flexible facility more suited to modern healthcare. The full planning application for the redevelopment of the Edith Cavell Hospital site was approved by the council in 2006. Planning permission for the development of an Integrated Care Centre on the existing site of the Fenland Wing at Peterborough District Hospital was granted in 2003.

Following merger of the Cambridgeshire, then East Anglian Ambulance Services, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is responsible for the provision of statutory emergency medical services in Peterborough.

Public utilities

Mains water and sewerage services are provided by Anglian Water, a former nationalised industry and natural monopoly, privatised in 1989 and regulated by OFWAT.

Following deregulation, the consumer has a choice of energy supplier. Electricity was formerly provided by Eastern Electricity, which was privatised in 1990. In 2002 the supply business was sold to Powergen and the distribution rights sold to EDF Energy. Natural Gas was (and still is) supplied by British Gas, which was privatised in 1986. Distribution and, as with electricity, transmission, is the responsibility of the National Grid, having been demerged as Transco in 1997. These industries are regulated by OFGEM.

British Telecommunications, privatised in 1984, provides fixed ADSL enabled (8 Mbps) telephone lines. The subscriber trunk dialling code for Peterborough is 01733, deriving from 73 for PE. Local loop unbundling, giving other internet service providers direct access, is completed at four out of 12 exchanges. The city is cabled by Virgin Media. These businesses are regulated by OFCOM.

Economy

Regeneration

Peterborough is currently experiencing an economic boom compared to the rest of the country, believed to be due to the regeneration plan laid out for the city over the coming decade or so. In 2005 economic growth was on average 5.5%, whilst in Peterborough it was 6.9%, the highest in the UK.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added, an important measure in the estimation of gross domestic product, of Peterborough at current basic prices, with figures in millions of pounds sterling:

Recent figures, plotting growth from 1995 to 2004, reveal that Peterborough has become the most successful economy among unitary authorities in the East of England. The chart also reveals that Peterborough's economy is growing faster than the East of England average and any other economy in the region. In January 2007, Peterborough was named as the leading city in driving forward the UK's business growth, with an impressive 3.78% increase between April and September 2006.

Employment

According to the 2001 census, the workplace population of 90,656 is divided into 60,118 people who live in Peterborough and 30,358 people who commute in. A further 13,161 residents commute out of the city to work. Earnings in Peterborough are lower than average. Median earnings are £9.77 per hour, less than the regional median of £11.69 and the national median hourly rate of £11.26. As part of the government's M11 corridor Peterborough is committed to creating 17,500 jobs with the population growing to 200,000 by 2020.

Future employment will also be created through the master plan for the city centre launched by the council in 2003. Predictions of the levels and types of employment created were published in 2005. These include 1,421 jobs created in retail; 1,067 created in a variety of leisure and cultural developments; 338 in three hotels; and a further 4,847 jobs created in offices and other workspaces. Recent relocations of large employers include both Tesco (1,070 employees) and Debenhams (850 employees) distribution centres. A further 2,500 jobs are to be created in the £140 million Gateway warehouse and distribution park, this will help offset the expected 6,000 job loses in traditional industries, such as manufacturing, which have been predicted in a report cited by cabinet member for economic growth and regeneration.

Peterborough, with traditionally low levels of unemployment, is a popular destination for workers and has seen significant growth through the migration of workers over decades; from the city's Italian and Polish communities in the post-war era to present day. The leader of the city council said he believed Peterborough had taken up to 80% of the 65,000 people who had arrived in East Anglia from countries such as Poland and Slovakia. Demand for short term employees from organisations remains high and the market supports up to 20 high street recruitment agencies at any one time.

Transport

Peterborough is a major stop on the East Coast Main Line, around 45 - 50 minutes journey time from central London, with high-speed intercity services from King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley operated by the Great North Eastern Railway and slower commuter services terminating at Peterborough operated by First Capital Connect. It is a major railway junction where a number of cross-country routes converge. Central Trains operate the Peterborough to Lincoln Line, the Birmingham to Peterborough Line and with 'one', the Ely to Peterborough Line with through services to Norwich or Cambridge and Stansted Airport. As part of its citylink service, Central Trains operate routes from Birmingham New Street to London Stansted and from Liverpool Lime Street to Norwich via the main line north of Peterborough then the Nottingham to Grantham Line.

The River Nene, made navigable from the port at Wisbech to Northampton by 1761, passes through the city centre and a rather pretty green bridge carries the railway over the river. It was built in 1847 by Lewis Cubitt, who was more famous for his bridges in Australia, India and South America. Apart from some minor repairs in 1910 (the steel bands and cross braces around the fluted legs) the bridge remains just the way he built it. Now a listed structure, it is the oldest surviving cast-iron railway bridge in the UK. By the Town Bridge, the Customs House, built in the early eighteenth century, is a visible reminder of the city's past function as an inland port. The Environment Agency navigation starts at the junction with the Northampton arm of the Grand Union Canal and extends for 91 miles (147 km) ending at Bevis Hall just upstream of Wisbech. The tidal limit used to be Woodston Wharf until the Dog-in-a-Doublet lock was built five miles (8 km) downstream in 1937.

The A1/A1(M) broadly follows the path of the historic Great North Road from St. Paul's Cathedral at the heart of London, through Peterborough (Junction 17), continuing north a further 335 miles (539 km) to central Edinburgh. Ermine Street used to pass through Durobrivae, the slight remains of which can be seen to the east, alongside the A1 at Peterborough. Bus services in the city are operated by several companies including the Stagecoach Group (Cambus and Viscount) and Delaine Buses. Despite its large-scale growth, Peterborough has the fastest peak and off-peak travel times for a city of its size in the UK, due to the construction of the parkways. The Local Transport Plan anticipates expenditure totalling around £180 million for the period up to 2010 on major road schemes to accommodate development.

The Peterborough Millennium Green Wheel is a 50 mile (80 km) network of cycleways, footpaths and bridleways which provide safe, continuous routes around the city with radiating spokes connecting to the city centre. The project has also created a sculpture trail, which provides functional, landscape artworks along the Green Wheel route and a Living Landmarks project involving the local community in the creation of local landscape features such as mini woodlands, ponds and hedgerows. Another long distance footpath, the Hereward Way, runs from Oakham in Rutland, through Peterborough, to East Harling in Norfolk.

Peterborough has a business airport with a paved runway at Holme and a recreational airfield hosting a well-known parachute school at Sibson.

Demographics

Ethnicity

Peterborough is home to one of the largest concentrations of Italian immigrants in the UK. This is mainly as a result of labour recruitment in the 1950s by the London Brick Company in the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Campania. By 1960 approximately 3,000 Italian men were employed by London Brick, mostly at the Fletton works. In 1962 the Scalabrini Fathers, who first arrived in Peterborough in 1956, purchased an old school and converted it into a church named after the patron saint of workers San Giuseppe. By 1991 over 3,000 christenings of second-generation Italians had been carried out there.

The population of Peterborough has, over the last few years, grown much faster than the national average, mainly due to immigration. In the late twentieth century, the main source of immigration has been from Commonwealth countries such as India and Pakistan. A more recent issue is that an unknown figure of eastern Europeans from accession states have moved to Peterborough since 2004. This may mean that the population figures, based on the 2001 census, are an underestimate. The East of England Regional Assembly estimate that 16,000 eastern Europeans are now living in Peterborough.

Modern Peterborough is a rapidly developing city and one that continues to change. The city hasn't changed without problems however. In May 2004 groups of Pakistani residents clashed with Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers. In the "running street battles," houses and cars were set alight and windows were smashed. Some people were hospitalised. The fighting occurred in the multicultural Millfield area of the city. In July of that year, a festival set up by the Indian community to celebrate the city's diversity turned violent. Pakistanis and Iraqis clashed over the weekend, leaving a man in hospital and large gangs fighting. Since then, race relations have improved significantly.

The number of languages in use is growing and diversity is spreading where previously few languages other than English were spoken. Peterborough now offers classes in Italian, Urdu and Punjabi in its primary schools.

As Peterborough expands and attracts more UK and foreign citizens, it has introduced a new statutory development plan. Its aim is to accommodate an extra 22,000 homes, 18,000 jobs and over 40,000 people living in Peterborough by 2020. The Hampton township will be completed, south Stanground will have a 1,500 home development and Paston a 1,200 home development. To help cope with the influx of people moving to the city, thought to be many thousands a year, the council has put forward plans to construct an average of 1,300 homes every year until 2021.

Religion

Christianity has the largest following in Peterborough, in particular the Church of England, with a significant number of churches and a cathedral. Recent immigration to the city has also seen the established Roman Catholic population increase substantially. Other denominations are also represented; the latest church to be constructed is a £7 million "superchurch" that can hold up to 1,800 people.

In comparison with the rest of the country, Peterborough has a lower proportion of Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews and Sikhs. However, the city has a higher percentage of Muslims (and atheists) than the national average. The majority of Muslims reside in the Millfield and New England areas of the city, where two large mosques (including the Faidhan-e-Madina Mosque) are based. Peterborough also has both Hindu (Bharat Hindu Samaj) and Sikh (Singh Sabha Gurdwara) temples in these areas.

The Anglican Diocese of Peterborough covers about 1,200 square miles (3,100 km²), including the whole of Northamptonshire, Rutland, and the Soke of Peterborough (the part of the city north of the River Nene). The parts of the city south of the river, historically in Huntingdonshire, fall within the Diocese of Ely, which covers the rest of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk. However, the current Bishop of Peterborough has also been appointed Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely, with pastoral care for these parishes delegated to him by the Bishop of Ely. The city falls wholly within the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia, which has its seat at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Baptist, Norwich.

Education

Peterborough's secondary education system is currently undergoing immense change. Five of the city's fifteen secondary schools are to be closed and demolished over the coming years, replaced with flagship academies set to open in September 2007. These include The Voyager Media Arts College and Thomas Deacon Academy, designed by Lord Foster of Thames Bank. The schools that remain will be extended and enlarged. Over £200 million is to be spent and the changes on-going to 2010.

The King's School, Peterborough is one of seven schools established, or in some cases re-endowed and renamed, by King Henry VIII in 1541 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The city has its own Further Education colleges, Peterborough Regional College (established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College) and Peterborough College of Adult Education. The college attracts over 15,000 students each year, from the UK and abroad. It is currently ranked in the top five per cent of colleges in the UK.

The city is currently without its own university, since Loughborough University closed its Peterborough campus in 2003. In 2006 however, Peterborough Regional College was in talks with Anglia Ruskin University to develop a new university campus for the city.

Culture

The Arts

Each year Peterborough enjoys a wide range of events including the annual East of England Show, Peterborough Festival and CAMRA beer festival which takes place on the river embankment at the end of August.

The Key Theatre, built in 1973, is situated on the embankment, next to the River Nene. The theatre provides entertainment, enlightenment and education by reflecting the rich culture Peterborough has to offer. The programme is made up of home-grown productions, national touring shows, local community productions and one-off concerts. There is disabled access, an infrared hearing system for the deaf and hard of hearing and there are also regular signed performances.

In 1937 the Odeon Cinema opened on Broadway, where it operated successfully for more than half a century. In 1991 the Odeon showed its last film to the public and was left to fall into a state of disrepair, until 1997, when a local entrepreneur purchased the building as part of a larger project, including a restaurant and art gallery. Today The Broadway is one of the largest theatres in the region and offers the very best of live entertainment, including music, comedy and films.

The John Clare Theatre within the new central library, also on Broadway, is home to the Peterborough Film Society. One of the region's leading venues, The Cresset in Bretton, provides a wide range of events for the residents of the city and beyond, including theatre, comedy, music and dance. Peterborough has a Showcase Cinema, an ice rink and two bowling alleys. Throughout the city there are a diverse range of restaurants. These include Chinese & Cantonese, Indian & Nepalese, Thai and many Italian restaurants. In the closing months of 2006, Polish, Japanese and Mexican restaurants were all opened.

Sport

Peterborough United Football Club, known as The Posh, has been the local football team since 1934. The ground is situated at London Road on the south bank of the River Nene. Peterborough United have a proud history of cup giant-killings. They set the record for the highest number of league goals scored in a season with 134 goals during their first season in the Football League in 1960/1, when they won the Fourth Division title, with Terry Bly scoring 52 of them. Irish property developer Darragh MacAnthony was appointed chairman in 2006 and is currently undertaking a lengthy purchase of the club from Barry Fry. Once this is completed, MacAnthony has promised to move The Posh to a new all-seater stadium.

As well as football, Peterborough has teams competing in rugby, cricket, hockey, ice hockey, rowing and athletics. Although Cambridgeshire is not a first-class cricket county, Northamptonshire staged some home matches in the city between 1906 and 1974. Peterborough Town Cricket Club and the City of Peterborough Hockey Club compete at their shared ground in Westwood; whereas the city's oldest and most successful rugby team, Peterborough Rugby Union Football Club, now play at Fortress Fengate.

Peterborough City Rowing Club moved from its riverside setting to the current Thorpe Meadows location in 1983. The spring and summer regattas held there attract rowers and scullers from competing clubs from all over the country. Every February the adjacent River Nene is host to the head of the river race, which again attracts hundreds of entries.

Peterborough Phantoms are the city's ice hockey team, playing in the English Premier Ice Hockey League. Peterborough Athletic Club train and compete at the embankment athletics arena. The club has proved successful in producing talented athletes over the years. Speedway (a form of motorcycle racing) is also a popular sport in Peterborough, with races being held at the East of England Showground.

Media

There is a major radio transmitter at Morborne, approximately eight miles (13 km) west of Peterborough, for national FM radio (BBC Radio 1 - 4 and Classic FM) and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. This facility includes a 505 feet (154 m) high guyed radio mast which collapsed in 2004 after a fire and has since been re-built. Another transmission site at Gunthorpe, in the north east of the city, transmits AM/MW and local FM radio. The site is only 10 feet (3 m) above sea level and has a 270 feet (83 m) high active insulated guyed mast situated on it.

Peterborough has four local radio stations and one regional station. Hereward FM, named after Hereward the Wake, is the original independent local radio station in the city and still holds a large section of the market on 102.7 MHz. Hereward's sister station Classic Gold 1332 is now part of the national Classic Gold network. Lite FM 106.8 is Peterborough's second commercial radio station and Radio Cambridgeshire, which also has studios in the city, broadcasts local output in place of countywide programming on 95.7 MHz at peak listening times. Kiss 105-108 is the regional station for the East of England, broadcasting on 107.7 MHz in Peterborough.

Peterborough is in the Anglia Television franchise area for Independent Television. This is transmitted with BBC One and Two (East), Channel 4 and Channel 5 from Sandy Heath. The digital switchover will take place in 2011 in the East of England.

The Peterborough Evening Telegraph or ET is the city's newspaper, published Monday to Saturday with local news, jobs, property, motors and entertainment supplements and a Saturday lifestyle magazine. The Evening Telegraph is owned by East Midlands Newspapers Ltd., part of Johnston Press Plc. Its website, Peterborough Today, is updated six days a week. The Peterborough Herald and Post is the weekly free paper delivered to every home in the city. The Herald and Post is owned by Midlands Weekly Media Ltd., part of Trinity Mirror Plc.

The publisher, Emap, traces its origins in Peterborough, as the East Midland Allied Press, back to 1854.

Places of interest

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, originally founded as a monastery in AD 655, was re-built in its present form between 1118 and 1238 and has been the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough since the Diocese was created in 1541. The Cathedral has the distinction of having had two queens buried beneath its paving, Katherine of Aragon and Mary, Queen of Scots. The remains of Queen Mary were later removed to Westminster Abbey by her son James I when he became King of England.

The general layout of Peterborough is attributed to Martin de Vecti who, as abbot from 1133 to 1155, rebuilt the settlement on dry limestone to the west of the monastery, rather than the often-flooded marshlands to the east. Abbot Martin was responsible for laying out the market place and the wharf beside the river. Peterborough's magnificent seventeenth century Guildhall, built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II, is supported by columns, to provide an open ground floor for the butter and poultry markets which used to be held there. The Market Place was renamed Cathedral Square and the adjacent Gates Memorial Fountain moved to Bishop's Road Gardens in 1963, when the weekly market was transferred to the site of the old cattle market.

The city has a large Victorian park containing formal gardens, children's play areas, an aviary, bowling green, tennis courts, pitch and putt course and tea rooms. The Park has been awarded the Green Flag, the national standard for parks and green spaces, by the Civic Trust. The Lido, a striking building with elements of art deco design, was opened in 1936 and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use.

Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery is housed in a Georgian townhouse, built in 1816, which served as the city's first infirmary from 1857 to 1928. The museum has a collection of some 227,000 objects, including local archaeology, from the products of the local Roman pottery industry to Britain's oldest known murder victim; one of the finest collections of marine dinosaurs in the world; local art and social history, including manuscripts of the romantic poet John Clare; and the Norman Cross collection of items made by French Prisoners of War. These prisoners were kept at Norman Cross on the outskirts of Peterborough from 1797 to 1814, in what is believed to be the world's first purpose built prisoner of war camp. Peterborough Museum also holds regular temporary exhibitions, weekend events and guided tours.

Burghley House is a country house to the north of Peterborough, near Stamford, built for Sir William Cecil, later 1st Baron Burghley, who was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I from 1555 to 1587. The house, with a park laid out by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown in the eighteenth century, is one of the principal examples of sixteenth century English architecture. The estate hosts the annual Burghley Horse Trials.

English Heritage Longthorpe Tower is a fourteenth century, three-storey tower and fortified manor house in the care of English Heritage, situated about two miles (3 km) to the west of the city centre. Longthorpe Tower contains the finest and most complete set of domestic paintings of the period in northern Europe. Exhibitions are held there from time to time by local artists.

Flag Fen is a Bronze Age archaeological site discovered in 1982. Probably religious, it comprises a large number of poles arranged in five long rows, connecting Whittlesey with Peterborough across the wet fenland. The museum exhibits many of the artefacts found, including what is believed to be the oldest wheel in Britain. An exposed section of the Roman road known as the Fen Causeway also crosses the site.

The Nene Valley Railway is a seven and a half mile (12 km) heritage railway, which was one of the last passenger lines to fall under the Beeching Axe. In 1974 the former development corporation bought the line, running from the city centre to Yarwell Junction just west of Wansford, via Orton Mere and the 500 acre (202 ha) Ferry Meadows country park, and leased it to the Peterborough Railway Society.

The Nene Park, which opened in 1978, covers a site three and a half miles (5.6 km) long, from slightly west of Castor to the centre of Peterborough. The park has three lakes, one of which houses a watersports centre. Ferry Meadows, one of the major destinations and attractions signposted on the Green Wheel, occupies a large portion of the Nene Park. Orton Mere provides access to the east of the park.

Southey Wood is a mixed woodland, between the villages of Upton and Ufford seven miles (11 km) west of Peterborough, once included in the Royal Forest of Rockingham. Nearby Castor Hanglands national nature reserve is a 220 acre (90 ha) site of special scientific interest.

Famous Peterborians

Peterborough is the birthplace of many celebrities and historical figures, including the astronomer George Alcock MBE. Musicians include Andy Bell, lead singer of the electronic pop band Erasure, who was born and spent his youth in Peterborough; Don Lusher OBE, trombonist; Keith Palmer, better known as Maxim Reality, member of dance music band The Prodigy; Gizz Butt, who played guitar with The Prodigy, and still lives in the area; Nigel Sixsmith, founder member of The Art Of Sound, a musician and well known keytar player; and Sir Thomas Armstrong an organist, conductor, educationalist and adjudicator. Other names from the entertainment world include Paul Nicholas, actor and singer; Sarah Cawood, television presenter; Adrian Durham, radio presenter for talkSPORT; Barrie Forgie, leader of the BBC Big Band; scientist and broadcaster Prof. Brian J. Ford; and West Ham United footballer Matthew Etherington, who started his career in the youth academy at Peterborough United FC.

Two famous businessmen are Cav. Peter Boizot MBE OMRI, founder of the Pizza Express restaurant chain, who has supported the cultural and sporting development of the city, including a spell as owner and chairman of Peterborough United; and Sir Henry Royce, 1st Baronet of Seaton, co-founder of Rolls-Royce. Norfolk-born nurse Edith Cavell received part of her education at Laurel Court in the Minster Precinct and is commemorated by a plaque in the Cathedral and by the name of the hospital. Finally, two historical figures were born locally, the poet John Clare; and Hereward the Wake, an outlaw who led resistance against William the Conqueror and now lends his name to several places and businesses in Peterborough.

Geography

The local topography is notoriously flat and low-lying, and in some places lies below sea-level. The lowest point on land in the British Isles is at Holme Fen just to the south of the city. Largest of the many settlements along the Fen edge, Peterborough has been called the Gateway to the Fens. The city includes the outlying settlement at RAF Wittering, the Home of the Harrier, and as a unitary authority borders Northamptonshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north, and administrative Cambridgeshire to the south and east. The city centre is located at 52°35'N latitude 0°15'W longitude or Ordnance Survey national grid reference TL 185 998.

Urban areas of the city
Townships are in bold type
Bretton - Dogsthorpe - Eastfield - Eastgate - Fengate - Fletton - Gunthorpe - Hampton - Longthorpe - Millfield - Netherton - Newark - New England - The Ortons - Paston - Parnwell - Ravensthorpe - Stanground - Walton - Werrington - West Town - Westwood - Woodston

Surrounding villages in the district
These are civil parishes. Parishes do not cover the whole of England and mostly exist in rural areas. They are usually administered by parish councils which have various local responsibilities
Ailsworth - Bainton - Barnack - Borough Fen - Castor - Deeping Gate - Etton - Eye - Glinton - Helpston - Marholm - Maxey - Newborough - Northborough - Peakirk - Southorpe - Sutton - Thorney - Thornhaugh - Ufford - Upton - Wansford - Wittering - Wothorpe

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification Peterborough, along with rest of the British Isles, experiences a maritime climate characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. However compared with other parts of the country, East Anglia is hot and sunny in the summer but cold and frosty in the winter. Owing to its inland position, furthest from the landfall of most Atlantic depressions, Cambridgeshire is one of the driest counties in the UK, receiving, on average, less than two feet (600 mm) of rain per year. The mean annual daily duration of bright sunshine is four hours and 12 minutes; the absence of any high ground is probably responsible for the area being one of the sunniest parts of the British Isles.

Accent

Peterborough lies in the middle of several distinct regional accent groups and as such has a hybrid of Fenland East Anglian, East Midland and London Estuary English features. The city falls just north of the A vowel isogloss and as such most native speakers will use the flat A, as found in cat, in words such as last. Yod-dropping is often heard from Peterborians, as in the rest of East Anglia, for example new as /nuː/. However, the large number of newcomers has impacted greatly on the English spoken by the younger generation. Common so-called Estuary English features such as L-vocalisation, T-glottalisation and Th-fronting give today's Peterborough accent a definite south-eastern sound.

Affiliations

Twinning started in Europe after the Second World War. Its purpose was to promote friendship and greater understanding between the people of different European cities. A twinning link is a formal, long-term friendship agreement involving co-operation between two communities in different countries and endorsed by both local authorities. The two communities organise projects and activities around a range of issues and develop an understanding of historical, cultural, lifestyle similarities and differences.

Peterborough is twinned with the following towns:

Alcalá de Henares, Spain Queen Katherine's birthplace (since 1986)
Bourges, France (since 1957)
Forlì, Italy (since 1981)
Viersen, Germany (since 1982)
Vinnytsya, Ukraine (since 1991)

The city also has more informal friendship links with Ballarat, Australia; Foggia, Italy; Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe; Pécs, Hungary; and all Peterboroughs around the world.

Footnotes

1. Confirmed by Letters Patent issued under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 25 June 1974, see the London Gazette (Issue 46334) published 28 June 1974
2. 2001 Census Area Statistics Office for National Statistics, April 2001
3. House of Commons Hansard Written Answers HC Deb. 19 July 2006 (vol.449) cc.517-518W
4. Chisholm, Hugh (ed.) Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol.21 (11th ed.) Cambridge University Press, 1911 (text in the public domain)
5. Davies, Elizabeth et al. Peterborough: A Story of City and Country, People and Places (pp.18-19) Peterborough City Council and Pitkin Unichrome, 2001
6. King, Richard John Handbook to the Cathedrals of England (p.77) John Murray, London, 1862
7. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm. IV c.76)
8. Chisholm, op. cit.
9. Ibid.
10. Tebbs, Herbert F. Peterborough: A History (p.125) The Oleander Press, Cambridge, 1979
11. Davies, op. cit. (pp.23-24)
12. Ibid. (pp.26-27)
13. Under the New Towns Act 1965 (1965 cap.59) cf. The Peterborough Development Corporation (Transfer of Property and Dissolution) Order 1988 (SI 1988/1410), see the London Gazette (Issue 44377) published 01 August 1967, which states that the designation was made on 21 July 1967
14. Greater Peterborough Master Plan Peterborough Development Corporation, 1971
15. The Plan for Peterborough City Centre Peterborough City Council, East of England Development Agency and English Partnerships, February 2005
16. Formally the Representation of the People Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV c.45)
17. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c.23)
18. Youngs, Frederic A. Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England (Volume II: Northern England) Royal Historical Society, London, 1991
19. Under the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c.41)
20. The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order 1964 (SI 1964/367), see Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967), East Midlands General Review Area (Report No.3), July 1961 and Lincolnshire and East Anglia General Review Area (Report No.9), May 1965
21. Under the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c.73)
22. Under the Local Government Act 1972 (1972 cap.70)
23. The Cambridgeshire (City of Peterborough) (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 (SI 1996/1878), see Local Government Commission for England (1992), Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire, October 1994 and Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin, December 1995
24. Walton, Jemma Meet Peterborough's Volunteer Fire Brigade team Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 26 July 2007
25. The annual health check: assessing and rating the NHS (pp.22, 34 & 69) Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, October 2006
26. Greater Peterborough Health Investment Plan Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough Primary Care Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership Trust (retrieved 23 April 2007)
27. Broadband availability details for Peterborough Samknows (retrieved 28 August 2007)
28. Peterborough's Community Strategy Greater Peterborough Partnership, Progress Report Summary 2006
29. Marais, John Regional Gross Value Added 1989 - 2003 (pp.240-253) Office for National Statistics, December 2006
30. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
31. Includes hunting and forestry
32. Includes energy and construction
33. Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
34. Hastings, David and Swadkin, Claire Regional economic indicators with a focus on the differences in regional economic performance Economic and Labour Market Review, vol.1 no.2 (pp.52-64) February 2007
35. Peterborough leads UK’s business population growth, according to Royal Mail’s Business Barometer Royal Mail, 19 January 2007
36. A full breakdown by occupation type can be found by visiting the East of England Observatory
37. NOMIS Official Labour Market Statistics Office for National Statistics (retrieved 31 March 2006)
38. EMPLOYMENT: Projects promise jobs to end worrying trend Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 23 March 2006
39. The Plan for Peterborough City Centre op. cit.
40. JOBS: Boom Time Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 18 April 2005
41. BUSINESS: Distribution park will bring 2,500 jobs to city Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 12 September 2006
42. LIMIT PLEA: Fears over immigrants Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 23 August 2006
43. Station Facilities for Peterborough National Rail Enquiries, 28 November 2006
44. Under the Nene Navigation Acts 1714 (12 Anne c.7), 1725 (11 Geo. I c.19), 1756 (29 Geo. II c.69) and 1794 (34 Geo. III c.85)
45. Brandon, David and Knight, John Peterborough Past: The City and The Soke (p.54) Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 2001
46. River Nene The Environment Agency (retrieved 29 August 2007)
47. The Second Local Transport Plan Peterborough City Council, March 2006
48. Cycle Guide: The Green Wheel The Guardian, 03 March 2007
49. Colpi, Terry The Italian Factor: the Italian Community in Great Britain (p.149) Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1991
50. Ibid. (p.235)
51. 2001 Census Profile of Peterborough Cambridgeshire County Council, June 2003
52. Reid, Sue The town the Poles took over The Mail on Sunday, 24 August 2006
53. Patrols to quell violent clashes BBC News, 20 May 2004 20:01 BST
54. Ethnic groups clash at festival BBC News, 26 July 2004 12:02 BST
55. Positively Plurilingual: The contribution of community languages to UK education and society (p.6) CILT the National Centre for Languages, 2006
56. Peterborough Local Plan (First Replacement) Peterborough City Council, July 2005
57. Housing Strategy Statement Peterborough City Council, July 2004
58. Walton, Jemma How immigration has led to the rebirth of the Catholic Church Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 27 February 2007
59. Sandall, Jonathan Peterborough superchurch to open Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 21 September 2006
60. Ethnicity and Religion in Peterborough Cambridgeshire County Council, October 2004
61. RELIGION: Bishops bridge boundaries aboard boat Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 02 August 2004
62. Bridging the divide in a city Diocese of Ely, Ref. 0471, 29 July 2004
63. Secondary School Review Peterborough City Council (retrieved 15 April 2007)
64. Orme, Nicholas School founders and patrons in England, 597–1560 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, October 2006
65. Nasta, Tony Statutory Inspection of Peterborough Regional College under Section 3 of the School Inspections Act 1996 (1996 cap.57) Office for Standards in Education and Adult Learning Inspectorate, 17 October 2006
66. Peterborough Sub-Regional Study: Final Report 3.2.3 Improving further and higher education provision (p.19) Llewelyn Davies for the East of England Regional Assembly, November 2003
67. Major step towards university for Peterborough Anglia Ruskin University, 22 February 2006
68. £10 million boost for university facility in Peterborough Anglia Ruskin University, 11 December 2006
69. Destination Guide for Peterborough English Tourist Board (retrieved 20 April 2007)
70. The Key Times is the theatre's newspaper, available free of charge from the last Saturday of each month
71. First Glimpse of Mecca to Movies Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 18 April 2001
72. Conn, David Posh fans wary of pitfalls on road to the Premiership The Guardian, 25 October 2006
73. Peterborough Town changed its name for the 2006/7 season following a merger with Peterborough Athletic Hockey Club, see Peterborough Town Sports Club for more details
74. Bath, David A History of Rugby Union in the Peterborough Area with special reference to the history of Peterborough Rugby Union Football Club An extended version of a paper delivered to the Peterborough Burgh Society, October 2002
75. ROWING: Hunt and Gilbert strike gold for City Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 07 February 2006
76. Mast fire 'could be deliberate' BBC News, 01 November 2004 08:39 GMT
77. FIRE: Mast blaze brings radio blackout Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 01 November 2004
78. Sweeting, Walter Debenham The Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See (pp.3-35) G. Bell & Sons, London, 1898 (facsimile of the 1926 reprint of the 2nd ed. of Bell's Cathedrals from Project Gutenberg, retrieved 23 April 2007)
79. Skinner, Julia (with particular reference to the work of Robert Cook) Did You Know? Peterborough — A Miscellany (pp.33, 25 & 16) The Francis Frith Collection, Salisbury, 2006
80. Green Flag Award Winners (p.13) The Civic Trust, 21 July 2006. Peterborough Civic Society is registered with the Civic Trust
81. Brandon and Knight, op. cit. (pp.111-112)
82. For more details see Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
83. Turner, Roger Capability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape (pp.110–112) Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999
84. Salter, Mike The Castles of East Anglia (p.21) Folly Publications, Malvern, 2001
85. Pryor, Francis Flag Fen: Life and Death of a Prehistoric Landscape Tempus Publishing, Stroud, 2005
86. Rhodes, John The Nene Valley Railway Turntable Publications, Sheffield, 1976
87. Changing Places: Case Studies of the Urban Renaissance The Urban and Economic Development Group (retrieved 02 May 2007)
88. Castor Hanglands NNR English Nature (retrieved 30 April 2007)
89. Obituary of George Eric Deacon Alcock Journal of the British Astronomical Association, vol.111 no.2 (pp.64-66) February 2001
90. Erasure uncovered in Norwich BBC News, 10 February 2003 18:09 GMT
91. Voce, Steve Obituary of Gordon Douglas Lusher The Independent, 07 July 2006
92. Montalbano, Dan The city of Hereward the Wake The Independent, 31 August 2006
93. The Art Of Sound SoundClick (retrieved 24 April 2007)
94. Stoker, Richard Armstrong, Sir Thomas Henry Wait (1898-1994) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 (subscription required doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54713, retrieved 24 April 2007)
95. Biography of Paul Nicholas Internet Movie Database (retrieved 24 April 2007)
96. Inside out: Health Check - SARAH CAWOOD (Features) Liverpool Daily Post, 03 February 2004
97. Kirby, Terry Author in a Spot of Bother for 'horrible' view of Peterborough The Independent, 31 August 2006
98. The Barry Forgie Orchestra Vinyl Vulture (retrieved 24 April 2007)
99. Bibliography to December 1959 The Brian J. Ford Website (retrieved 24 April 2007)
100. Player Information for Matthew Etherington Football Database (retrieved 24 April 2007)
101. Honorary degree awarded to Peter Boizot Loughborough University, News Release No. 00/50, 12 September 2000
102. Montalbano, op. cit.
103. Daunton, Claire Cavell, Edith Louisa (1865–1915) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 (subscription required doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32330, retrieved 30 April 2007)
104. About the Society and Clare The John Clare Society (retrieved 24 April 2007)
105. Montalbano, op. cit.
106. Brown, Chris State of the Environment Report 1998 Chapter 11: Physical Background (pp.301-306) Cambridgeshire County Council (retrieved 19 July 2007)
107. Britain, David Surviving Estuary English: Innovation diffusion, koineisation and local dialect differentiation in the English Fenland Essex Research Reports in Linguistics, vol.41 (pp.74-103) University of Essex, Department of Language and Linguistics, 2002
108. Town Twinning - International Links Peterborough City Council (retrieved 24 April 2007)

See also

• Soke of Peterborough
• Diocese of Peterborough
• Peterborough (UK Parliament constituency)
• Peterborough local elections
• Peterborough Development Corporation
• Opportunity Peterborough

External links

• Peterborough City Council
• Opportunity Peterborough
• Peterborough PCT
• Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust
• Peterborough Regional College
• Peterborough Today

v t e Districts of the East of England
Bedfordshire	Bedford Central Bedfordshire Luton
Cambridgeshire	Cambridge East Cambridgeshire Fenland Huntingdonshire Peterborough South Cambridgeshire
Essex	Basildon Braintree Brentwood Castle Point Chelmsford Colchester Epping Forest Harlow Maldon Rochford Southend-on-Sea Tendring Thurrock Uttlesford
Hertfordshire	Broxbourne Dacorum East Hertfordshire Hertsmere North Hertfordshire St Albans Stevenage Three Rivers Watford Welwyn Hatfield
Norfolk	Breckland Broadland Great Yarmouth King's Lynn and West Norfolk North Norfolk Norwich South Norfolk
Suffolk	Babergh East Suffolk Ipswich Mid Suffolk West Suffolk

v t e Regions of England
East of England East Midlands London North East North West South East South West West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber

52°35′N 0°15′W / 52.583°N 0.250°W / 52.583; -0.250

• Peterborough
• Cambridgeshire
• Cities in England
• New towns in the United Kingdom
• Unitary authorities in England
• Local government in Cambridgeshire